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R. E. Kayen

Publications and source records attributed to R. E. Kayen.

25 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
USGS1991

Pleistocene slope instability of gas hydrate-laden sediment on the Beaufort Sea margin

In oceanic areas underlain by sediment with gas hydrate, reduction of sea level initiates disassociation along the base of the gas hydrate, which, in turn, causes the release of large volumes of gas into the sediment and creates excess pore-fluid pressures and reduced slope stability. Fluid diffusion properties dominate the disassociation process in fine-grained marine sediment. Slope failure appears likely for this sediment type on moderate slopes unless pressures can be adequately vented away from the gas hydrate base. Pleistocene eustatic-sea level regressions, likely triggered seafloor landslides on the continental slope of the Beaufort Sea and other margins where gas hydrate is present in seafloor sediment. -from Authors

Marine Geotechnology↗
USGS1991

Quantitative controls on submarine slope failure morphology

The concept of the steady-state of deformation can be applied to predicting the ultimate form a landslide will take. The steady-state condition, defined by a line in void ratio-effective stress space, exists at large levels of strain and remolding. Conceptually, if sediment initially exists with void ratio-effective stress conditions above the steady-state line, the sediment shear strength will decrease during a transient loading event, such as an earthquake or storm. If the reduced shear strength existing at the steady state is less than the downslope shear stress induced by gravity, then large-scale internal deformation, disintegration, and flow will occur. -from Authors

Marine Geotechnology↗
USGS1990

Geotechnical characteristics and slope stability on the Ebro margin, western Mediterranean

Sedimentological and geotechnical analyses of core samples from the Ebro continental slope define two distinct areas on the basis of sediment type, physical properties and geotechnical behavior. The first area is the upper slope area (water depths of 200–500 m), which consists of upper Pleistocene prodeltaic silty clay with a low water content (34% dry weight average), low plasticity, and high overconsolidation near the seafloor. The second area, the middle and lower slope (water depths greater than 500 m), contains clay- and silt-size hemipelagic deposits with a high water content (90% average), high plasticity, and a low to moderate degree of overconsolidation near the sediment surface. Results from geotechnical tests show that the upper slope has a relatively high degree of stability under relatively rapid (undrained) static loading conditions, compared with the middle and lower slopes, which have a higher degree of stability under long-term (drained) static loading conditions. Under cyclic loading, which occurs during earthquakes, the upper slope has a higher degree of stability than the middle and lower slopes. For the surface of the seafloor, calculated critical earthquake accelerations that can trigger slope failures range from 0.73 g on the upper slope to 0.23 g on the lower slope. Sediment buried well below the seafloor may have a critical acceleration as low as 0.09 g on the upper slope and 0.17 g on the lower slope. Seismically induced instability of most of the Ebro slope seems unlikely given that an earthquake shaking of at least intensity VI would be needed, and such strong intensities have never been recorded in the last 70 years. Other cyclic loading events, such as storms or internal waves, do not appear to be direct causes of instability at present. Infrequent, particularly strong earthquakes could cause landslides on the Ebro margin slope. The Columbretes slide on the southwestern Ebro margin may have been caused by intense earthquake shaking associated with volcanic emplacement of the Columbretes Islands. Localized sediment slides on steep canyon and levee slopes could have been caused by less intense shaking. In general, the slope is stable under present environmental loading conditions and is fundamentally constructional. Nevertheless, rapid progradation caused by high sedimentation rates and other processes acting during low sea-level periods, such as more intense wave loading near the shelfbreak, may have caused major instability in the past.

Marine Geology↗
USGS1989

Morphology of sea-floor landslides on Horizon Guyot: application of steady-state geotechnical analysis

Mass movement and erosion have been identified on the pelagic sediment cap of Horizon Guyot, a seamount in the Mid-Pacific Mountains. Trends in the size, shape and preservation of bedforms and sediment textural trends on the pelagic cap indicate that bottom-current-generated sediment transport direction is upslope. Slumping of the sediment cap occurred on and that the net bedload transport direction is upslope. Slumping of the sediment cap occurred on the northwest side of the guyot on a 1.6?? to 2.0?? slope in the zone of enhanced bottom-current activity. Submersible investigations of these slump blocks show them to be discrete and to have a relief of 6-15 m, with nodular chert beds cropping out along the headwall of individual rotated blocks. An evaluation of the stability of the sediment cap suggests that the combination of the current-induced beveling of the sea floor and infrequent earthquake loading accompanied by cyclic strength reduction is responsible for the initiation of slumps. The sediment in the area of slumping moved short distances in relatively coherent masses, whereas sediment that has moved beyond the summit cap perimeter has fully mobilized into sediment gravity flows and traveled large distances. A steady-state geotechnical analysis of Horizon Guyot sediment indicates the predisposition of deeply buried sediment towards disintegrative flow failure on appropriately steep slopes. Thus, slope failure in this deeper zone would include large amounts of internal deformation. However, gravitational stress in the near-surface sediment of the summit cap (sub-bottom depth < 14 m) is insufficient to maintain downslope movement after initial failure occurs. The predicted morphology of coherent slump blocks displaced and rafted upon a weakened zone at depth corresponds well with seismic-reflection data and submersible observations. ?? 1990.

Deep Sea Research Part A, Oceanographic Research P↗
USGS1988

Erosion and slope instability on Horizon Guyot, Mid-Pacific Mountains

Seismic-reflection profiles, sediment cores, and current velocities were assessed to study the impact of erosion and sediment redistribution on the pelagic sediment cap of Horizon Guyot, a flat-topped submarine volcanic ridge in the Mid-Pacific Mountains. These processes seem to concentrate their effect around the rim of the sediment cap. Sediment slumping occurs on the northwest perimeter of the guyot's sediment cap. Slope stability analysis suggests that if overconsolidation on Horizon Guyot is the result of current reworking or if local undercutting by bottom currents steepens the sea floor declivity, the sediment cap may be unstable during infrequent earthquake loading, transporting sediment from the guyot summit to the abyssal sea floor. ?? 1988 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

Geo-Marine Letters↗